inFAMOUS: Birth of The Phoenix
by Nightengale Wrightpen
Summary: Twenty years after the RFI was set off, another generation of conduits have been born. Seventeen year old Akane needs to learn how to control her new abilities to protect her new family.
1. Bad Moon on the Rise

inFAMOUS: Birth of The Phoenix

I do not own inFAMOUS or its characters, but I do own my characters.

File _ Smokescreen.

Name: Akane Kaneko (Smokescreen)

Age: 17

Race: Asian

Nationality: United States

Appearance: Auburn hair, black highlights. Light complexion. Red eyes. Tattoo below the left eye. 5'4".

Additional notes: Born with the Conduit Gene, has been exposed to Ray Sphere energy through an accidental explosion during an experiment. Twenty years after the energy wave that killed the last Conduits. Unsure if new strand of the plague has been loosed. She exhibits pyrokinetic abilities along with minor secondary abilities (Telekinesis?). This may prove Conduits can naturally develop multiple abilities.

**Bad Moon on the Rise**

Keypoint was in the southern point of Florida. It was a city not unlike L.A. with all its political problems and even more crime, if that's possible. The city was overrun with gangs and con-men. It was a large city, situated outside the swamps, which wasn't so bad except for the bugs, the stink, and the prison placed in the middle.

Akane's gang was a tight knit pack. They hunted like wolves. Ran like wolves. And raised their new members like wolf pups. Akane wasn't new any more, but she was a favorite. Firefly was her big sister now. She was the only family Akane had. Orphaned in a freak explosion, the Gang took her in, gave her a new name, along with food and shelter.

When she woke up after the blast her body burned like it was on fire. Screaming didn't change anything either. Her head was splitting and her blood was boiling and all she could do was lay there in the rubble. She wasn't sure how long she was out but it was only a few hours later that the gang showed up and began digging through the wreckage and found her. Firefly was the one who patched her up. They spent a lot of time together at first, talking and learning from one another. It wasn't until a few days later that they admitted to finding her parents dead under the demolished home.

It was hard at first. She was angry and hurting. Physically and emotionally. She was burning; Firefly said that sometimes it was almost like she was smoking. It was like suffering from a constant fever that got worse the angrier she got.

Then it ended. She couldn't be angry anymore. She realized the people responsible were probably dead and it definitely couldn't be her fault. There was nothing to be done but think. And she found that activity to be increasingly enlightening. Her mind felt like it had been exercising, running laps. She found it interesting to analyze things more thoroughly.

The Gang she was running with was a territorial gang but not much more. They weren't necessarily violent without cause and with Firefly as the leader Akane was safe and taken care of. There were only two other gangs in the area, The Darks and The Hidden Daggers. They were violent gangs that were responsible for over 60% of Keypoint's crime. Vandalism was the only crime Firefly's gang ever got caught for.

The Hidden Daggers' leader was called Knife. He was the longest lasting leader of three years. He favored a switchblade and liked to sneak up on his victims as they sleep. He was young by various accounts, at most fifteen. He ruled by fear and mercilessly killed any who disagreed with his views, including some officers of the law.

The Darks leader was a man named Christian. He ran his gang through trust and had no problem dispatching any he deemed untrustworthy. Many of his new recruits were found dead in the gutters before too long. He never tried to hide his identity, daring anyone to try and stop him. He started his gang at fifteen and is now twenty three. Christian is his actual name.

Firefly's Gang was simply called Firefly's gang. She was only the leader because she was the oldest. She had a vicious temper and a sharp tongue but little else. She was a good leader, like the alpha wolf. They marked their territory with graffiti. Their symbol was a pair of fiery angel wings.

Tonight was Akane's first run. She practiced with the spray paint for a week beforehand. They needed to claim some territory after the blast took out some of it. It was contained due to it being indoors. It only took out Akane's house, an abandoned apartment building, the building it took place in (Cornelius Co.), and a liquor store. The last of these burned severely and took out two neighboring buildings with it.

Akane's house had always been marked as Firefly's territory long before her family moved in, before it was even Firefly's gang. The walls that remained needed to be painted. She could see them barely now. They didn't stand tall but once the debris were removed it would be visible enough. She could paint the Cornelius Co. too.

It was thrilling to spray paint those walls. Like sneaking out late or ditching school. Not that Akane did either of those things; she just imagined this was what it felt like. She tried to stay hidden and quiet. Their territory met The Hidden Daggers' territory at what used to be the liquor store. There were only two others with her, Firefly and Ember. Ember was only there to keep watch but she was easily distracted and was talking to Firefly. It was quiet out that night except for Ember and sirens off in the distance.

After she was finished with the walls of her destroyed home she went the five feet to the old company building. Its walls were excessively thick. Almost a foot of stone and three inches of metal. Akane imagined the explosion that would take out that wall. It was dark because of the new moon but Akane could see the destroyed equipment and machines inside the building. A lot of it looked left over from scrap scavengers.

The first half an hour went off without a hitch but it got eerily quiet awful quickly. Even Ember was silenced by the density of the atmosphere. Dark clouds made visibility lower still and thunder rumbled a ways off. The wind was blowing on the opposite side of the wall so if it rained it wouldn't hit the paint directly. It would dry fine; it was already most of the way there.

A crack sounded behind Akane and a muffled groan followed then a dull thud after. Firefly hissed at Akane to get down and ducked, looking around. Ember lay on the ground, motionless. This all took place within the span of a breath.

"Dammit, Isaiah!" Firefly stood ready for a fight.

"That's not my name anymore!" a figure with a black hoodie on stepped out along with three others. "It's Knife. And you're on our turf."

"This has always been our territory. Just because the paint is gone doesn't mean we lose it." Firefly took out her stun gun inconspicuously and hid it at her side.

Knife took out a cigarette and lit it. Grinning he offered one to Akane who numbly shook her head in refusal. "Ember might have a concussion… You should skitter away while that's the only damage done."

"I'm not scared of you Isaiah…" Firefly said flatly.

At this Knife scowled and pulled out a pair of switchblades. The fighting started in an instant but went almost in slow motion. They met like in an old super hero comic, where their fists meet and there's a massive explosion. Sparks flew, literally. The stun gun made crackling noises but wholly missed Knife. Knife was much more skilled with his knives, however. He sliced only once and cut into flesh. Firefly staggered back holding her throat while blood spilled out from between her fingers.

All at once Akane's anger flared up again. She could feel the burning rage like a fire tempest. It exploded out of her, consuming everything around her. It burned hungrily and hot. Stunned only for a second, Knife collected his wits and vanished with his companions. The fire smoldered then sputtered and died as it started to rain heavily.


	2. Fully Alive

inFAMOUS: Birth of The Phoenix

I do not own inFAMOUS or its characters, but I do own my characters.

File _ Knife.

Name: Isaiah Marx (Knife)

Age: 16

Race: African American and Porto Rican

Nationality: United States

Appearance: Short black hair. Dark complexion. Grey eyes. 5'9".

Additional notes: Born with Conduit Gene, exposed to Ray Sphere energy through accidental explosion. Can manipulate metal; turn it to liquid, change its shape, ect.. Leader of a local gang in Keypoint. Known for violence.

**Fully Alive**

Akane was able to stop Firefly's bleeding but she remained asleep for several days. Ember woke up fine; she did have a concussion though.They needed a doctor now. The gang was respected because they took care of their territory, so they wouldn't be turned away. But they didn't have any money.

One of the members, Ray, his aunt was a nurse. However, she couldn't do a full check up without her equipment and the doctor costs money. Together they only had around fifty bucks and none of them had insurance. Unable to make money conventionally they decided it wasn't quick enough to afford it. Four members went out pick pocketing while the other three including Akane remained by Firefly.

After recounting what happened; the gang decided Akane's new name was Smokescreen. She wasn't particularly excited about the name. It made her sound dusty and gritty. Ember tried to reassure her saying it made her sound mysterious and helpful. She didn't feel helpful right now just sitting there.

Inferno, Ash, Sunny, and Nightlight came back with solemn faces. They only got a hundred and Ash got beat after he got caught once. He sported a black eye and fat lip. A hundred and fifty bucks was only enough for a check up. It would have to do.

The outpatient was cold and unforgiving and they were tired from carrying Firefly. It hadn't stopped raining since a few days before when the incident happened so they were soaked through. Embarrassed, they had to admit that it had been several days since the injury occurred. The doctor shook his head and got his equipment ready.

He said there wasn't much that he could do but give her antibiotics and hope for a full recovery. If Firefly did recover she would not be able to utilize her vocal cords and she would have a permanent scar. She would wake up soon.

The rain stopped but it was still humid out, making it that much more uncomfortable to carry her home. The clouds loomed overhead, threatening to rain again. Firefly did wake up on the way back but only to open her eyes for a moment. She remained still the remainder of the way back. Smokescreen could only imagine the pain Firefly was forced to endure.

That night Smokescreen went for a walk to think. She wondered out towards the wreckage of her old home. The sky was unnaturally dark as she kicked at some loose rocks. Checking the paint; it was faded but not gone. Lost in thought, she didn't hear the shuffling behind her.

"Hey baby…" Startled, Smokescreen turned to find Knife perched on a high wall. "What ya doin' all the way out here?" He didn't move from his crouched position on the crumbled wall. He only moved to light a cigarette. His face lit up from the brief fire. She saw bandages and scrapes.

"I recognize you, ya know. You used to live here." He smiled down at her. When she made no attempt to answer he frowned. "Hey! You deaf or somethin'?" He shook his head and jumped down.

He came up close and she backed away some. Chuckling he held up his hands to show he didn't have anything. "Hey, come on baby." He put his hands back in his pockets. "I know who owns this company you know. I can get him for ya." He laughed high and delightedly at her face. "Our kind should stick together."

"What do you mean 'our kind'?" She froze.

"Hey. Baby can talk." He grinned and put out his cigarette on the nearest painted symbol. "Yeah I saw them powers you got. I got some too. I heard about this kinda stuff before. The Conadit Gene or somethin'. You and me, we're like superheroes now."

She hesitated, "Then what's you're power?"

He puffed up like a peacock, "I can make metal do whatever I want." He saw her face and looked offended. "What? You don' believe me?"

Smokescreen flinched as he pulled his hands out of his pockets and looked intensely at his rings. Slowly they overtook his hands and became thin, deadly blades. As quickly as he did it he stabbed at Smokescreen and pinned her by her shirt to the wall. He smiled wickedly.

"How 'bout a kiss baby?... No? Fine." He pulled his hand back and his rings were returned to normal. "I'm just sayin', think about it." He started to walk away then stopped. "I guess this rightfully belongs to you. Pretty girls deserve pretty things." He handed her a small blue crystal that seemed to be on fire, then vanished.

When Smokescreen got back, Firefly had wrapped a scarf around her neck to hide the scar. She was asleep by then though and Smokescreen didn't want to disturb her to ask about what Knife had talked about. She set to fixing the hole in her shirt and quietly thought to herself.

Revenge didn't sound wrong to her, but it wasn't right either. She needed to think hard. And of course Knife couldn't be trusted, he hurt her new family. He seemed better informed then others would be, though. She didn't know what to do. While mindlessly fiddling with her chocker she attached the crystal to it and put it on. It gave her goose bumps.

One thing was for sure. She needed to learn her powers. If she could control them then… Well she could control them. That was a good enough reason for her. And she could probably protect her family then. That was most important to her. She wasn't going to lose another family member.


End file.
